CHIVHU – Tens of road accident victims are dying at Chivhu General Hospital because Chikomba District’s biggest referral centre has antiquated equipment which is more than six decades old.Chivhu General Hospital is at the centre of Masvingo - Harare Highway which has reported some of the worst tragedies in the history of this country with more than 50 people being killed in one accident.Every week there are people who are ferried to the hospital after accidents along the highway and to make matters worse injured people are transported to the hospital on public transport or private cars because Chivhu does not have adequate ambulances. There is no firebrigade and many victims have died while trapped inside mangled remains of their vehicles.This was said by the hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr Alice Kanyemba during a tour of the hospital by the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr John Mangwiro last week.“Many road accident victims are brought here but with infrastructure of more than six decades, the hospital needs an upgrade,” said Dr Kanyemba.Chivhu Hospital was established in 1948 and has a service area of 15 805 but has only 58 beds in all the wards.According to statistics released at the hospital, from January this year, the hospital has received 233 victims of accidents and 42 were refered to hospitals in Harare.Dr Kanyemba said the hospital refereed all critical cases to Harare because there is no theatre room to attend to the patients.Dr Kanyemba said the hospital had a single radiographer, which is a huge strain on the officer. “We occasionally send our staff to study on primary trauma care at the Institute of Continuing Health Education at Parirenyatwa Hospital to ensure that we provide maximum care to accident victims and other patients with critical conditions,” she said.Dr Mangwiro however applauded the Chivhu General Hospital personnel for working hard.